Vijay Kumar Chaudhary
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Vijay Kumar Chaudhary (born 8 January 1957) is an Indian politician. He has been a member of
Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...
since 1982, and is currently serving as the Cabinet Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs ministries in the
Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...
. He has previously held the posts of Speaker of Bihar Vidhan Sabha, Leader of
Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...
Legislature Party in Bihar Legislative Assembly and the Minister for Finance, Commercial Taxes, Education, Buildling Construction, Transport, Rural Development, Rural Works Engineering, Information & Public Relations, Agriculture, Animal and Fish Resources ministries in the
Government of Bihar Bihar Government is the State governments of India, state government of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar and its nine Divisions of Bihar, divisions which consist of Districts of Bihar, districts. It consists of an execut ...
. He is considered to be the Number 2 in JDU's pecking order of the Bihar cabinet and is a member of
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
's core committee which shapes policies of the Government and the party. Chaudhary served as the Home Minister-in-charge, putting forth the Government's stand on home affairs in Bihar Legislative Assembly. Known for being an efficient administrator and a soft-spoken person with a clean image, he is a close confidante of
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
and was speculated to succeed him as Chief Minister of Bihar following the latter's resignation after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.


Early life and career

Choudhary was born in
Dalsinghsarai Dalsinghsarai is a city and Municipal Council in the Samastipur District of Bihar, India. It is also one of the subdivisions and blocks of Bihar. It is situated on the bank of the river Balan. Alok Kumar Mehta is the Member of the Legislative ...
,
Samastipur district Samastipur is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar in India. The district headquarters are located at Samastipur. The district occupies an area of 2904km² and has a population of 4,261,566. Samastipur was the largest milk producing distr ...
of Bihar in a maithil Brahmin family. His father, Jagdish Prasad Chaudhary, had been a freedom fighter, an
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
politician and a three term member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from the Dalsinghsarai constituency. He completed his Master of Arts in history from Patna University in 1979 and joined the
State Bank of India State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...
as a Probationary Officer in
Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...
in the same year.


Political career

After the demise of his legislator father in 1982, Chaudhary resigned from his job and won the subsequent by-election from Dalsinghsarai on a Congress ticket. He was re-elected from Dalsinghsarai for two more terms in 1985 and 1990. During this stint as a legislator from 1982 to 1995, he served as the Deputy Chairman of Bihar State Industrial Development Corporation (BSIDC) and Deputy Chief Whip of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). He sought re-election again from Dalsinghsarai in 1995 and 2000 but lost the polls. Chaudhary served as General Secretary of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 2000 to 2005. He joined
JD(U) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a social-democratic and secular Indian political party, rooted mainly in eastern and north-eastern India, whose stated goals are promoting social justice and lifting ...
in 2005 and unsuccessfully contested the
October 2005 Bihar Legislative Assembly election Bihar Assembly elections were held twice in the year 2005. There was a fractured verdict in the ''February 2005 Assembly Election''. Since no government could be formed in Bihar, fresh elections were held in ''October–November'' the same year ...
from Sarairanjan. He was appointed as the General Secretary and Chief Spokesperson of the party in 2008. He continued to serve in this capacity until February 2010, when he was nominated as the President of Bihar JD(U) and led the party during its victory in
2010 Bihar Legislative Assembly election The Bihar legislative assembly election, 2010 was held in six phases over a period of one month starting from 21 October until 20 November in all 243 constituencies of Bihar, India. The election is conducted to elect the government in Bihar for ...
. He himself won the election from
Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Sarairanjan Assembly constituency is an Vidhan Sabha, assembly constituency in Samastipur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. Overview As per Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies Order, 20 ...
with a margin of 17557 votes and was inducted as the Water Resources Minister in the newly formed cabinet, assuming charge on 26 November 2010. He tendered his resignation from the Council of Ministers on 7 February 2015 to protest the continuance of
Jitan Ram Manjhi Jitan Ram Manjhi (born 6 October 1944) is an Indian politician, serving as the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises since 2024. He is currently a Member of Parliament from Gaya constituency and was Bihar's 23rd Chief Minister from ...
as
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
despite the election of
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
as the Leader of
JD(U) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a social-democratic and secular Indian political party, rooted mainly in eastern and north-eastern India, whose stated goals are promoting social justice and lifting ...
Legislature Party. He was elected as the Leader of
JD(U) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a social-democratic and secular Indian political party, rooted mainly in eastern and north-eastern India, whose stated goals are promoting social justice and lifting ...
Legislature Party in the
Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...
and staked claim to the opposition status. He was subsequently recognized as the
Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
on 19 February 2015 by then Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary. Post victory in the trust vote and
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
assuming charge as
Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
for the fourth time, he was inducted as the Cabinet Minister for Water Resources with the additional charge of Agriculture, Information & Public Relations and Animal and Fish Resources Departments. He retained his
Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Sarairanjan Assembly constituency is an Vidhan Sabha, assembly constituency in Samastipur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. Overview As per Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies Order, 20 ...
in 2015 elections with a margin of 34044 votes. He was elected unopposed to the post of Speaker of Bihar Legislative Assembly on 2 December 2015 after consensus was generated on his name among all political parties of the state, including the Opposition BJP. He was re-elected from
Sarairanjan (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Sarairanjan Assembly constituency is an Vidhan Sabha, assembly constituency in Samastipur district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. Overview As per Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies Order, 20 ...
in the 2020 elections. He was inducted in the Cabinet of
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
on 16 November 2020 and allotted the portfolios of Water Resources, Rural Works, Rural Development, Information & Public Relations and Parliamentary Affairs Departments.


Achievements

As Water Resources Minister, Chaudhary is credited with the completion of Durgawati Reservoir in 2014, a massive irrigation project started in 1976 which got delayed by 38 years due to land acquisition and environmental clearance related issues. His tenure (2010–2015) saw no major floods after the
2008 Bihar flood The 2008 Bihar flood was one of the most disastrous floods in the history of Bihar, an impoverished and densely populated state in India. The Koshi embankment near the Indo-Nepal border (at Kusaha VDC, Sunsari district, Nepal) broke on 18 Aug ...
. Under his leadership, the Water Resources Ministry launched eight river-linking projects at a cost of Rs 4442 crores. As Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Chaudhary brought 44 amendments to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business, the most significant of them being the introduction of the concept of 'Confidence Motion' under Rule 109(A), wherein the Government of the day can move a motion to seek confidence from the House. Bihar is the only state in the country with a rule to deal with confidence motion moved by Government of the day. The
Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
government, with BJP and other NDA constituents as allies, was the first to move a confidence motion in the Assembly, on 28 July 2017, to prove its majority in the lower House. He also amended rules to allow inclusion of MLCs in House Committees dealing with financial matters. He introduced a Question Reply Management System (QRMS) for online receipt of questions from
MLAs A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...
and provision of answers by concerned Government departments through the same channel. To bring transparency in the recruitment policy of the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, he divested the Office of Speaker of powers of recruitment and awarded the job to a Central agency, also responsible for recruitment in
Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...
through a competitive and fair process. He has also initiated the implementation of the National e-Vidhan Application Project to make
Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...
paperless. He organized workshops to facilitate dialogue between the civil society and legislators for more informed lawmaking. He has also been organizing blood donation camps on the Assembly's foundation day wherein legislators donate blood for use by needy patients. Under his leadership as the Chairman of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...
Bihar Chapter, the
Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...
successfully organised the annual conference of
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...
India Region, attended by both national and international dignitaries, including Chairperson of the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...
Emilia Monjowa Lifaka.


Personal life

He is married to Ganga Choudhary. The couple has a son and a daughter.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhary, Vijay Kumar 1957 births Living people Janata Dal (United) politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar State cabinet ministers of Bihar People from Samastipur district Bihar MLAs 1980–1985 Bihar MLAs 1985–1990 Bihar MLAs 1990–1995 Bihar MLAs 2010–2015 Bihar MLAs 2020–2025 Speakers of the Bihar Legislative Assembly Leaders of the opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly